CR-1: Active Subwoofer Crossover

The lucky few who have heard a well-integrated subwoofer in a great audio system know that the subwoofer's effect is profound. While everyone expects the bass extension to improve, most are shocked at the transformation that occurs in the main speakers. They simply open up, delivering improved dynamics, superior imaging and more low-level detail. Many describe it as the greatest speaker upgrade they have ever made.

Over the years, we have calibrated many subwoofer systems in highly critical listening environments, and we have been frustrated by the limitations of active crossovers we have worked with. Tired of struggling with "blunt instruments", we felt that a higher precision tool was needed, so we decided to build it and call it "CR-1". When properly set up, CR-1 creates a listening experience in which the subwoofers and main speakers become one, delivering a cohesive and compelling sonic presentation.

The CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover has been designed by audiophiles, for audiophiles. We believe it has no equal, offering a powerful combination of subwoofer/satellite tuning features, and a complete commitment to analog signal purity.

CR-1 is built around two banks of precision Linkwitz-Riley low-pass and high-pass filters. Multiplying DACs with monolithic ratio matching are employed to adjust the analog circuit's filter frequencies. This offers superior tracking behavior and far more precise left/right channel balance, compared to conventional approaches.

Another of CR-1's unique and powerful features is a pair of rotary controls that control the damping of each filter bank. These damping controls dramatically improve the acoustic summing through the crossover region, by compensating for each speaker system's frequency response. At the center of the front panel, a single intuitive, rotary control permits quick adjustment of the relative level between the subwoofer(s) and main speakers.

To minimize distortion and noise, CR-1 employs top-grade component parts in its all-analog audio circuitry: 1% precision resistors, JFET-input audio-grade op-amps, polypropylene film-and-foil capacitors and metallized-polypropylene film capacitors, to name just a few.

CR-1's input-output design makes it equally adaptable to studio, mastering suite or audiophile two-channel playback environments. To accommodate dual-mode systems, we also include a bypass feature that engages a pass-through from a dedicated "Managed Bass Input" on the rear panel, to the CR-1's subwoofer outputs. This makes it convenient to switch from two-channel to multi-channel mode.

CR-1 is the ultimate tool for subwoofer integration.

USA Limited Warranty:  Three (3) years from the original date of purchaseWarranty Details

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A complete collection of Home Audio Reviews & Product Information

Product of the Year
The Absolute Sound, 2015

Editors' Choice Award Winner
The Absolute Sound, 2015-2023

"The most distinctive features were its pin-point imaging, relentlessly excellent clarity, and a notable absence of coloration, all coupled seamlessly to relentless bottom-end extension and weight. No, it did not sound like home theatre, all exaggerated boom and thud. It just sounded like good quality full-range solid state audio. In that sense, and considering its configuration, the system was remarkable for being unremarkable – until one remembers that it goes flat to 21 Hz. That is an impressive technical achievement, no matter what musical value one places upon it."

"I greatly enjoyed the journey and am pleased to award them a firm HIFICRITIC Recommended label."

– Kevin Fiske, HifiCritic Audio Review Magazine, July - September, 2016 (on the Fathom f112v2 & CR-1)

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"...JLA's CR-1 electronics crossover was a total surprise—I wondered where it had been all my life. It's beautifully made, sonically transparent, performs a critical role in the optimal setup of subwoofers, and has ergonomic bypass and mute functions that let you immediately hear the sonic improvements of good bass management. JL Audio's Fathom f212v2 subwoofer and CR-1 crossover are strongly recommended."

– Larry Greenhill, Stereophile, November 2016

Read the full Fathom f212v2 & CR-1 stereophile.com

"I have reviewed many fine subwoofers and although I enjoyed my time with many of them, I felt no tinge of regret when returning them. The f112s are different. They are not going anywhere as they have now become part of my reference system, until something better (which I can afford) comes along, which I suspect will not be for quite some time. Kudos JL Audio, your f112 combined with your CR-1 gives music lovers a means to integrate superior subs with main speakers in a way that delivers deep, visceral, accurate and distinctively tuneful bass performance in a manner that will give anyone with a heartbeat, many goose bump inducing musical moments."

Read the full review at Canada Hifi

"Those who want to perfectly blend a powered subwoofer(s) with topflight main speakers in a high-end stereo system should consider as mandatory JL Audio’s CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover. It’s flexible, transparent, and intuitive to use. So grab an audio buddy, spend a few hours with a CR-1 to dial in your system to the nth degree, and you’ll surely be rewarded. If the rest of your components are up to snuff, when all’s said and done you’ll have a full-range system that can approach the sound of those big, superexpensive, multiway loudspeakers you can only dream of owning. The CR-1 puts incredible sound within your reach."

– Jeff Fritz, Read the CR-1 Review at soundstageultra.com

Golden Ear Award Winner
The Absolute Sound, 2015, 2019

"...the Gothams and the CR-1 are tickets to a full-range bliss you've never before experienced, because, in my own experience, it's never before been available at this level of unalloyed satisfaction. Both the Gotham subs and JL's CR-1 crossover, obviously, get my highest, most unqualified, most enthusiastic recommendation. I just wish all of you could hear them!"

– Jonathan Valin, July/August 2015, Read the g213 / CR-1 Review at theabsolutesound.com